The Michigan Department of Community Health recently became aware of a breach of protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and is notifying 2,595 individuals and the Department of Health and Human Services regarding this breach.

On the evening of Jan. 30 or early morning Jan. 31, a laptop computer and flash drive were stolen from an employee of the State Long Term Care Ombudsmanís office.

Information on the laptop was encrypted, however data on the flash drive was not and contained sensitive information regarding participants that the LTC Ombudsmanís Office serves. The flash drive contained personal information about 2,595 living and deceased individuals, including names and addresses, and for some individuals, dates of birth.

Of those, 1,539 records also included either a Social Security number or a Medicaid identification number.

The theft has been reported to the police, but, to date, the laptop and flash drive have not been recovered. MDCH learned about the breach on Feb. 3 and notified individuals this week after reconstructing the data.

All individuals with data on the flash drive are being notified so they can monitor their accounts and other financial affairs for any unauthorized use. MDCH is working with the LTC Ombudsmanís Office to offer credit monitoring services at no cost to people whose social security number or Medicaid number were compromised.

In addition, a credit file death suppression service is being offered to the families of deceased individuals to assist them in securing their deceased loved oneís credit file.

If you are an affected person, and wish to take action to protect yourself from potential identity thieves, you may place a fraud alert on your credit file. A fraud alert tells creditors to contact you before they open any new accounts or change your existing accounts.

You can place a fraud alert on your credit file by calling any one of the three credit bureaus at the following numbers: Equifax at 800-525-6258, Experian at 888-397-3742 or Trans Union Corp at 800-680-7289.